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Saturday, May 28, 2011

Yes! The season of Rice Dumplings is here again! I have always loved dumplings since I was young. Being influenced deeply by the Hokkien society as my mother is a Hokkien, I have always been pampered with the wonderful food that every festival brings. Oh, did you know that every different type of food during different festivity has a symbolic reason to every mythical stories that had been passed down from generations to generations? Yup, I was intrigued when I learnt about the rice dumpling story. So here's how the story goes.

Mandarin Character of Rice Dumplings

Apparently, a strong and brave general during the olden days, got accused and framed. He was sentenced to exile but he ran away. He decides to jump off a river and die to prove his innocence rather than being caught and punished for what he did not do. So, the villagers who believed in him, tries to help him even after he's dead by throwing rice dumplings into the river to avoid fishes from feasting on him to preserve his body. And so, this is the story of where the rice dumplings come from.

There are many different types of rice dumplings today to suit your taste buds which ranges from the sweet ones up to the savory ones. I personally like the savory Hokkien, black-ish, pork "Bak-Chang" without salted egg yolk. My grandma makes them best. But then again, I have always said, whats the harm of trying out different types of variety? And so, thanks to Rebecca, I got to join in for Zuan Yuan's rice dumpling festival food tasting last Friday at One World Hotel.

The dumplings are usually made of glutinous rice and packed with an assortment of fillings, such as salted egg yolk, chestnut, mushroom, black-eyes beans, wrapped in bamboo leaves. And at Zuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant, located on the lobby level of One World Hotel, Dim Sum Chef Jordan Chin Chee Hung and his team have created three very unique flavours for this celebration:

Chef Jordan.

枣蓉碱水粽

Steamed Sweet Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Red Date Paste

RM8++ per dumpling

The red dates to make this rice dumpling are boiled for a maximum 8 hours and the skin removed to form the paste. This dumpling is perfect for sweet-tooths like me. The dumpling has a very fragrant aroma that lingers in your mouth with the right amount of sweetness.

八宝裹蒸粽

Eight Treasure Glutinous Rice Dumpling Hong Kong Style

RM25++ per dumpling

This dumpling are made of 8 main ingredients; sliced roasted duck, pacific clam, salted egg yolk, gingko nut, lotus seed, barley, ground nuts, green bean, mushroom, black-eye bean and chest nut. I personally prefer this dumpling than the one with Abalone. This dumpling has a simple aromatic taste to it which I really like.

五谷鮑魚粽

Traditional Five Grain Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Sliced Australian Abalone

RM58++ per dumpling

This mouth-watering almost 1 kg dumpling is a must try. With the traditional five grain glutinous rice (basmathi, black glutinous rice, oats, wild rice and brown rice) dumpling with sliced Australian abalone, sliced duck, dried scallop, diced mushroom, lotus seed, dried shrimps, salted egg yolk and chest nut. The taste of the abalone and the duck meat makes the dumpling taste richer and is perfect for meat lovers out there.

That was all that was supposed to be on the menu, but the people from One World Hotel was so kind that they wanted to ensure that our tummies are all well fed. They served us with more delicious food.

1/2 Herbal Roasted Duck

RM33++ per 1/2 duck

Crispy Red Bean Chinese Pancake with Banana

RM13++

Durian Combination

(Durian flavored spring roll, pancake & Ice cream)

RM15++

Double Boiled Fuji Apple with Lemon Grass and Aloe Vera

RM10++

All of these dumplings are best paired with the wide variety of Chinese Tea. These dumplings are available during lunch and dinner for dine-in and take-away. Hurry now. These dumplings are only available from 23 May- 6 June 2011.